Heading down in a couple days.

Anyone know if they have the following:

Coin operated washer and dryers
Boogie boards at the beach?
Kids size snorkel gear?

Thanks for you help?

Stash

Don't recall any coin operated laundry facilities - it's typical resort style with a list in your room giving you cost to get something cleaned.
No boogie boards at the beach...the wind conditions along this stretch of beach are such that it's often red flagged and you cannot go in the water. Plus there is just one small area where there is no rocks so not conducive at all to boogie boards.
They may have kid's size snorkel gear for snorkel trips off the resort but none for use at the beach - again, too rough for snorkeling in this area as there is no protection from offshore reefs.
This is a beautiful large resort but unfortunately it's more known for it's pool area than for it's beach.

Two_Cats - I saw in another thread that you have also been to the IB in Cozumel...How was the snorkeling from the shore at the IB Coz? We are thinking about going there as a day-trip from the Paraiso and we are wondering if its worth it.

Apparently the snorkeling off IB Coz is just okay - the location of this resort is better known for it's quicker access to the offshore reefs for scuba diving. If you want to make the day trip over to Cozumel, you're best bet is to just skip IB altogether and when you get off the ferry in San Miguel just jump into a cab and ask them to take you to Playa Corona where the reefs are that they take you to if you were to book a boat snorkeling tour. Apparently you get just as good a show as going in from shore.
Or just take the cab down to Chanakanaab Park (entry fee) where you can snorkel, swim with the dolphins, etc.

Two_Cats - thank you for your reply. We'll play it by ear, but it sounds like if we make it to Cozumel in this trip, we'll just take a boat to the outer reefs. By-the-way, we snorkled in Playa Corona, Chankanab park and Dzul Ha from shore and we were not impressed. The coral is very plant like and we did not see any unusual marine life (octopus, turtles, moray eels, rays, etc.), which we have seen in abundance in other places that we have snorkeled.

Mariarosa---What other places did you snorkel where you saw more marine life? I'm assuming it wasn't off Cozumel. I met a guy the other day that did some novice scuba diving off the Palancar and Columbia reefs and loved it. A turtle swam right by him to go down and feed and he wasn't that deep so I imagine snorkelers could enjoy the same. I'm getting the feeling from message boards that if you want to see big and unusual marine life, you have to take a boat to some of the deeper reefs.

We took a boat trip to Inno reef (Near Xcaret). It was pretty cool, we saw a green moray eel and other interesting marine life - much better than anything off-shore in Cozumel, although we did not snorkel in the southern part of Cozumel, only at Chankanab, Playa Corona and Dzul-Ha. I know the IB is located in the Southern part, and that is why I was wondering if the snorkeling off-shore at the IB Coz was any better than points north.

But by far the best snorkeling I've done has been in the Virgin Islands (St John and the BVIs): octopus, eagle rays, tons of turtles, beautiful and colorful coral, anemones, cuttlefish...

Mariarosa(or any one else who wants to join in)---I think you've mentioned the Virgin Islands on one of my other posted messages. I certainly noted it for a future trip. --We love to snorkel and are even looking into getting scuba certified. Just seems like you can see a lot more of the "big" marine life that way. ---I was looking into the Pres.Intercontinental Cozumel Resort because I heard there is a great reef out front, but now discovered it is not an all inclusive and we want an all inclusive for convenience. Perhaps the IC us a little more than we want to spend anyway. I'm assuming the beach is public and we can still swim out to the reef in front of the IC if we choose to. ---I'm considering the Iberostar Cozumel or the Reef Club or maybe another. Heard the Iberostar is an expensive 20 min. cab to town though. The best snorkeling is supposed to be off the Cozumel reefs so that's why we've decided we'd like to stay there and then take some ferry trips to explore the Riviera Maya coastline.---Keep in touch if you learn anything new about the reefs or Cozumel resorts. I'll watch for you1